CHINA'S first shortened May Day holiday has resulted in a drop in the number of residents intended to travel overseas and caused the prices of overseas and long-distance package tours to drop by 20 percent, the Daily Sunshine said yesterday, citing figures from local travel agencies.

Many Shenzhen residents were forced to reschedule their travel plans after the May Day holiday was shortened to three days from the previous one week.

A recent online survey of 3,000 people conducted by leading travel Web site Ctrip.com found that 62 percent had chosen short tours to cities within Guangdong or in neighboring provinces because of the short duration of the holiday.

"Three days are far from enough to make a trip to Spain, which I had planned earlier," said a woman surnamed Qiu who works for a foreign bank in Luohu District.

Prices for packages to Western European countries for the upcoming May Day holiday are 20 percent lower compared to the same period last year, when a weeklong holiday was observed in China, said a manager with Shenzhen Airlines Travel Agency who gave only her last name Wen.

Wen said long-distance domestic package tours of more than four days were also priced lower compared to last May."A tour package to the Huangshan Mountain, which cost only 3,980 yuan (US$561) last May Day holiday, is now 3,380 yuan, down 15 percent,"she said. Such a tour costs 2,980 yuan during the slow season. (Wei Jie)